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Monthly Archives: March 2013

Have you been visited by The Unseen? James McKenna talks about obsession and SPI

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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books. crime thriller, crime fiction, crime thriller, good read

theunseen24248002
Brainwashing is a very emotive term and if you were to unpick it the visual image is quite nasty as if someone was to take a person’s brain and completely clean it of everything they have ever learned. Of course, initially it was a term coined to offer some kind of acceptable reason why a number of American soldiers actually defected to the Korean side after being taken prisoner by the enemy during the 1950s.

You can expect this to be the case otherwise how could you possibly explain why crack troops were simply giving up and going across to the other side. This would cause all kinds of unsettling tidal waves to crash across the sands of patriotism and belief. Wasn’t everyone supposed to believe that US troops were so well trained and lovers of President and homeland they would never have allowed themselves to willingly go to the other side unless some dreadful process had befallen them?

No one really underpinned what brainwashing might actually mean in term of a psychological reading and thus the term stuck. What we do understand now is that brainwashing is unlikely to exist in the conventional sense and that we are more likely to change our minds after a number of smaller factors are taken into account. For example, certain religions which pile on the guilt or manipulative family members, friends or lovers for example who exert too much influence can be significant. Then of course there is the ceaseless round of marketing techniques and blatant advertising that bombards us every day; we are quite capable of falling victim to all these kinds of persuaders.

This is something that finally provoked me into settling down to write my novel The Unseen, which was published a couple of years ago. My main thesis was the concept of subliminal psychotic induction which is also known as SPI. This is where messages are sent and unknowingly received by the subconscious. So, for example a flashing picture which crops up on the internet momentarily can actually end up being a covert kind of ‘brainwashing’ after a while.

I wondered what might happen if people had absolutely no idea what was happening to them; after all it must have some potential to do harm otherwise its use would not have been banned in the 50s and 60s where it was used to make cinema audiences buy more soft drinks for example having seen ads for Pepsi flashed onto the screen momentarily during the interval.

What would happen if a hacker turned their attention to an SPI device I wondered; it would be hard to stop one would imagine as literally it would be gone in a flash. This interested me to such an extent The Unseen soon wrote itself!

This book is where I introduced DI Sean Fagan for the first time and he investigates the ritual murder of three young women.

I decided it would be thought provoking to link their murders to the world’s most popular computer game, Princess Kay-ling. When high-tech units from the police force examine hard drives taken from the victims’ PCs, traces of subliminal psychotic induction are discovered. It becomes obvious very quickly that all the victims have trusted and then obeyed characters who appear in the game. These characters manage to manipulate the women dramatically and when a fourth woman is murdered Sean realises he is looking for a serial killer who may well be capable of global influence. I then added a separate element where Fagan soon realises the Government is aware and observing. That is not all, soon he discovers to his alarm that both his daughters are also caught up.

I became quite obsessed myself while I was writing the book with how people can get so easily sucked into terrible situations for all kinds of reasons outside of SPI and how it is too difficult to escape. You know when you feel you are in too far to turn back; it was certainly worth writing about.

The Unseen is available from Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats.
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James McKenna’s potential new crime thriller about a Russian oligarch’s death unfolds before his eyes.

26 Tuesday Mar 2013

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The Unwanted bookcover
A crime writer, or in fact any writer, is always hunting for interesting snippets of information, turning over stones and furtively searching for what is lurking beneath.

One of the really engaging things about being a crime writer is crawling about in the dark recesses of the criminal mind. I am never happier than when I am plotting and scheming my protagonist’s next move.

Most mornings I am awake early trying to piece together tricky links in the plot. My publicist tells me I should be spending the time working on social media but she doesn’t seem to understand just how important that creative time is for me and I would hate to squander it on tweeting and Face booking – that has to come later in the day!

Anyway, I will return to the topic. Sometimes, it is not necessary to poke about for inspiration; it literally falls from the sky. One such story this week has to be the death of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. What a name! What a life!

I have been avidly following all that has been going on. This morning’s headlines say that he ‘died from hanging’. Wow! I was shocked when I discovered crack squads of police had gone into his £20 million mansion searching for traces of biological weapons, chemicals and radioactivity. This is the stuff of high quality fiction – yet, it was all unfolding before our very eyes.

What would John le Carre have made of it all I am wondering? Berezovsky’s close associates say that ‘suicide was not in his DNA’ but the post mortem shows that he was hanged. Yet we all know what might have happen; I’ve read the crime thrillers and written them too! Don’t you just love conjecture!

There are so many parts of this story which make it all the more fascinating. Berezovsky was certainly the grit in the Russian oyster but was also desperate to return to his home country. There is even rumour that he wrote to Putin begging to be allowed to return after his forced exile in London.

Yet there is speculation that maybe he was despatched by the Kremlin, whereas there is also the possibility that he never recovered from losing the high profile legal tussle with Abramovich. Does it get any more intriguing than this? Well, the answer is : ‘Yes!’

Reports also suggest that as there was no suicide note; perhaps this was a professional killing after he criticised Vladimir Putin? Yet it doesn’t stop there as there is talk that maybe the oligarch was eradicated as he knew too much about how the West was planning to scupper Putin and that in fact, Berezovsky was helping the West in exchange for repatriation to Russia.

Oh, this is such fertile ground for any crime writer’s imagination. Although you wouldn’t have to change much to make this crime thriller of the decade would you?

Certainly Berezovsky was controversial throughout his life and it looks like this character trait will remain long after his death. I shall try to put all this out of my mind and get on, although my imagination is fizzing with the possibilities.

No, discipline, discipline, I have deadlines to meet and I must get back to the Unwanted.

What is your theory about the Russian oligarch’s demise? I would love to read your perspective on this bizarre story. Do leave a comment.
http://tinyurl.com/c9ultl3

James McKenna talks crime fiction and modern day slavery

17 Sunday Mar 2013

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books. crime thriller, crime novel, crime thrillers, enjoy reading, James McKenna

theuncounted15186194
It’s funny how there seems to be so much snobbery about crime fiction especially in the UK. I don’t know whether people think they are still like the Victorian ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ or crime fiction is only about someone bumping off Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room with a dagger.

Let’s face it, if your only brush with crime fiction in the past has been Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and ‘Rosemary and Thyme’ then maybe you might well have rather a warped perspective of the contemporary crime novel, but let me reassure you crime fiction is changing!

As a genre, crime fiction is actually enjoying a revival and book sales are up. You could name a whole raft of crime fiction writers who have added another layer; people such as Henning Mankell, Michael Connelly, Sophie Hannah (https://jameswmckenna.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/james-mckennas-crime-fiction-tip-this-week-is-the-carrier-by-sophie-hannah/) and of course, Ian Rankin. What really seems to have changed (and I did mention this is an earlier blog) is how the place and its impact on the narrative is so important. Added to this I really feel that contemporary crime writing is tackling some interesting contemporary issues that cross moral and philosophical boundaries.

I know when I write I want to explore contemporary issues like human trafficking or subliminal psychotic induction and it was interesting to watch the debate unfold on the media about contemporary slave trading when the new report came out last Monday (see last week’s blog https://jameswmckenna.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/james-mckenna-knows-the-uncounted-should-be-government-reading-stop-treating-people-as-potential-illegal-immigrants-they-are-victims-of-crime/). I actually wrote The Uncounted a couple of years back and people were dismissive about the notion of human trafficking, but now I am wondering whether I should actually settle down and write a sequel!

But I digress; books are now being written about the genre itself and I was please and amazed, if not a little envious, that you can now study crime fiction at university. This can only be a good thing as it will prompt everyone to view crime fiction novels in a much better light as having something valid to say in sociological contexts too. I will get back to my proofreading and re-drafting of my latest book and leave you with a couple of recommendations.

James McKenna’s interesting reads for this week are:

Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson
• This is a new thriller from the Alex Cross stable and has such pace and a wonderfully twisted killer or too.

The Striker Clive Cussler Justin Scott
• Love this as it is set at the very beginning of the twentieth century and Isaac Bell is a newbie in the detective stakes. His case is an interesting one as he looks for saboteurs in the local coal mines. It was something different and just a great read.

Calculated in Death J D Robb
• This is an excellent book in the long running series. A female body is found, anything of value removed and it could just be a botched mugging but the body yields up complicated secrets. The characters of Eve and Roarke are really developing. No wonder other people also rate it highly.

Ian Rankin’s Black and Blue A Reader’s Guide by Gill Plain
• This is a great guide to one of Rankin’s early books and also carried information about the author’s biography alongside interesting interviews too. It’s actually one of a series which aims to give any reader the opportunity to learn a little more about certain contemporary novel titles and I really liked this one.

Anyway if you have a moment please check out my modern day slavery video:

James McKenna knows The Uncounted should be government reading. Stop treating people as potential illegal immigrants; they are victims of crime.

11 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by James Mckenna in Uncategorized

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the-uncounted-3d
My ears pricked up as I was writing today as the word ‘trafficking’ came on the radio. Immediately I stopped what I was doing, and listened to a news report.

At last it seems the media and the authorities too are waking up to the appalling new wave of modern day trafficking which is actually happening in the UK right now as I write and you read. All kinds of people are trapped in this dreadful situation where they are forced to work for up to 18 hours a day and are often paid nothing for months on end and then are totally dependent on their ‘masters’ for all their needs.

Occasionally stories surface like the deaths of workers on the sands of Morecambe Bay some years back but then the topic ceases to be newsworthy and it all slips back into the grimy underworld.

How does this happen we are probably all asking ourselves? Intimidation is key and many people who find themselves the victim of trafficking just cannot see a way to escape. Some survivors of this treatment tell of workers being slapped with shovels and threatened with pickaxes if they ever tried to stand up for themselves. Thus begins a cycle of degradation that may well continue for years and can end in the ultimate crime.

The added complication is that the UK police force is, at present, not very well equipped to deal with a trafficked person if they should present themselves at a police station or at a UK border control point. There are stories of sex workers making a break for it and then because they are not in possession of passports are immediately arrested as an illegal immigrant. In fact police have admitted there is little incentive for them to trace trafficking rings because it’s not one of their priorities and doesn’t help with performance statistics. One officer said that it was more productive to hunt a shed burglar than assist in hunting down the perpetrators of people trafficking.

Is this the way to treat someone who is often a victim of modern day slavery? The new report entitled: ‘It Happens Here’ will be published on 11th March 2013 in the UK and is very critical of how this problem is being dealt with. The government says only 1200 people have been trafficked but author of the Centre for Social Care and Justice Christian Guys feels the system is failing to deal effectively with a problem whose roots probably lay far deeper than what we can see on the surface. He says the government really has no understanding of the extent of this problem right across the country.

How do you spot a potential modern day slave owner or victim of slavery? Do people really know what signs to look out for? In addition, those who do manage to break away and have their stories listened to find the aftercare and support nothing less than shameful.

The CSJ is campaigning hard for a commissioner to be responsible for this problem as right now responsibility is spread across seven different government departments and inevitably some confusion will result. Right now it is the UK Border Agency who often makes a decision as to whether someone is a victim of trafficking or simply an illegal immigrant and because of their role their focus is inevitably on immigration issues.

People caught up in trafficking or modern day slavery are victims of crime and should not be treated as criminals themselves but perhaps frustratingly, the minister Ben Harper is quite scathing about this new report and seemed only interested in trotting out clichéd comments when interviewed by the BBC.

When I first researched this topic for my novel The Uncounted, I knew it was my duty to expose what was happening in this country and if you have been affected by the news then may I suggest you read the book which is available on Kindle and as a paperback. Click here and then share this blog post so no one is left in the dark that modern slavery is happening here too!
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James McKenna’s crime fiction tip this week is The Carrier by Sophie Hannah

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by James Mckenna in Uncategorized

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crime fiction, crime thriller, good read

The Unwanted bookcover
I have been quite prolific in the last week or so and I am just about to finish the first draft of The Unwanted. This is a cause for celebration and I have been burning vineyard clippings as a treat! Sad but true, I am afraid. Still, there is no shortage of vintage red wine to have a go at, so the work has to be done in preparation for this year’s harvest.

I have high hopes my crime fiction harvest will be as good when my latest crime thriller is published sometime in the early summer, if all goes according to plan. I find that when I am in full flow it is difficult to break off and do anything else at all. But I am committed to my blog and therefore I think it is a privilege to change desks and consider what to chat about in the crime fiction realm this week.

Well, I had to write about a young woman who has really caught my eye, one Sophie Hannah, not least because she is a prolific tweeter and I enjoy the cut and thrust of that social medium once in a while. Although I must confess I am not as active as a crime writer should be and many of my writing colleagues put me to shame, but still, I try.

Well, what I did discover from Ms. Hannah herself is that she finds it impossible to begin a new piece of prose until she has made a firm decision about the title. My ears immediately pricked up because that is exactly my take on things. I was actually really pleased with my new title, The Unwanted, and understood exactly where she was coming from regarding that.

Therefore I was quite excited to begin her latest novel, The Carrier, which has just been published by Hodder & Stoughton. I thought the title was very interesting and my brain was doing its best to work out exactly where she could be coming from with it. She gives just enough away to hint at something underhand and undercover while possibly being some kind of psychological thriller. Certainly you get the impression it’s someone taking something either knowingly or unwittingly.

Having read other Hannah books I know that this author excels in making the reader think one thing and actually taking them in a completely different direction. Bearing in mind Agatha Christie is her heroine then I suppose I should not be at all surprised.

She loves to set up links and puzzles just as Christie did. Hannah herself said in an interview that puzzles transpire directly as a consequence of psychological depth. She suggests that everyone wants to hold secrets close, to hide their own fears and sense of panic, oh yes, and secrets of course!

Hannah suggests that trying to get to grips with the enigma within most people, is something which will definitely allow you to come to terms with human nature and eventually have a much better understanding of how our species ticks. I agree and tried hard to explore human nature in The Uncounted where I was crawling in the depths of the underworld.

Puzzles are important, as not knowing the solutions to things which are of importance in our lives, is the reason so many of us keep going. When I begin to write crime fiction I wanted to explore what makes criminals’ minds tick. Faced with a fictionalized detective’s set of conundrums we can empathize as readers. So often we are left with seemingly unsolvable clues which we have to try extremely hard to solve.

From what I have read so far, The Carrier is a winner, forcing together two characters as it does in a seemingly coincidental manner. The main character soon realizes that actually her meeting with the other female in the book was no coincidence as there is one man who is a significant link between them and it is he who has a very guilty secret.

As I have done, Hannah makes use of the same detective but it’s the main character that sets out to find out why a supposedly innocent man should wish to frame himself for murder. I am fascinated and when my final draft is looking a little better I shall try and do more than read a chapter before I sleep; Sophie Hannah deserves better.

Look out for The Carrier and The Uncounted on amazon.
http://tinyurl.com/c9ultl3

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